May 2021 Newsletter

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Rescued From The World

Kayla and her identical twin three-year-olds, Elijah and Isiah, were living at her father’s house. Their home life was a good environment. Her job as a part-time cashier in a major department store was a solid foundation. However, she was experiencing a problem in their small town community. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, especially those connected to her past drug addiction. She has been clean for four years. She wants to stay that way and provide a better place to raise her children. But those in the drug culture kept wanting to pull her back into their deplorable lifestyle. Kayla described them as a gang, even a pack of wolves, that have a common purpose but would turn on one another at any sign of quitting. There is evil in the world that has to be recognized. Kayla wanted out.

So, she devised a plan to move herself and children into the home of a family friend in a different community. She kept her job. Because the friend lives in subsidized housing that allows for a maximum two week visit, it was temporary. The existence of our Samaritan Inn was common knowledge among the women of that apartment complex. Kayla said we are considered a backup plan, not a means of escaping commitment or responsibility. Women there are more likely to stay in an abusive situation than go to any shelter. But Kayla and her boys had to leave. They told her Samaritan Inn is a good, safe place, and she would even have a private family room. Still, she was afraid that it would automatically open a Child Protective Services case, which it does not. We are a mandatory reporter for observed abuse, not for just being a resident.

“Everybody’s been really nice,” Kayla said, “My kids are hyperactive, but age appropriate. With the rules, there is an order here, and I understand the reason. I am learning to be myself as a woman, not what some guy wants. I have codependency issues. I need to be myself first, way before entering into a relationship again.” She said, “The structure here is good. The security makes me feel safe, I know that no one is going to come in to get me.” Kayla said, “I am comfortable in a Christian facility because I feel safer that God is here, and I can talk about Him. Sometimes, I can’t do that at work. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and I am going to Heaven. I am saved.” Indeed, she has been rescued from the world.